This page contains the material submitted to the local paper - The Davis Enterprise - for Explorit Science Center's news column published in that paper on Fridays.

Columns for Nov. 5 & 12 will be posted on the 19th

Article for: The Davis Enterprise
Date: October 29, 2004
Author: Pamela Emery

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YOUNG SCIENCE CADET TRAINING TOMORROW

Tomorrow, Explorit guests second grade and older have the opportunity to become cadets in training and explore the remote, imaginary planet of Sram. Sram, you say?

Through a well-organized interactive program, trained cadets young and old will learn about this mock planet by examining it's physical characteristics. The imaginary planet's name comes from a nearby planet's name spelled backwards.

This interactive simulation will consist of three parts: cadet training, rover exploration of the planet Sram and analysis of the data. "This is very exciting," says Tara Barbier, Explorit's Family Explorations coordinator who has prepared this simulation. "The participants will be able to see what it feels like to be an actual scientist in a motivating and relaxed setting."

The cadets will have specialized training in several areas. As geologists, the cadets will learn how to identify minerals using identification charts, scratch tests, magnetism and ultraviolet light.

The cadets will act as physicists who specialize in spectroscopy and will use diffraction gratings to learn about the visible light spectrum. ROY G BIV is a common term used to describe the sequence of visible wavelengths-Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet. This information will be used to identify Sram's atmospheric gases that are collected by a remote-controlled rover. 

Finally, the cadets will learn how to command the rover by learning and practicing robot commands. Their expertise in this area will come in handy when the cadets control their rover via a remote camera.

So, what will Sram look like? Does it have an atmosphere? If so, is its atmosphere similar to Earth's? Could Earth's inhabitants live on Sram?

Two sessions of training and exploration will begin promptly at 1:00 p.m. and 2:45 p.m. Free tickets, available to Explorit members and guests with paid museum admission, will be available beginning at noon. Visitors are encouraged to come early as space is limited and doors to each simulation will be close promptly at each starting time and will remain closed during the 75-minute program. Infants and strollers are not recommended for this special program.

This program complements the current science exhibition "Inner Earth to Outer Space: Origins of Life and the Universe" and is sponsored by Davis Waste Removal and Origins Project funders (the National Science Foundation, NASA, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Park Foundation, Sprint, Microsoft and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting).

So tonight look at the stars and planets in the sky and imagine what it would be like to explore a planet further away than one could imagine. Then tomorrow, visit Explorit and explore this newly found planet-Sram. If this Saturday won't work, then plan to attend a repeat session of "Mission to Sram" on November 13.

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Explorit Science Center is at 3141 5th St. in East Davis. The current exhibition "Inner Earth to Outer Space: Origins of Life and the Universe" runs through December 12. Public hours are Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Tuesday through Friday from 2 to 4:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.explorit.org or call Explorit at (530) 756-0191.